Fancy goldfish help please

Lab_Rat

Lab_Rat

Merry Christmas!
Dec 3, 2009
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Deep South
I was bored in class today and browsing craigslist (always a bad idea) and came across an ad where the person was going to flush their fish if someone didn't come get them today. :angryfire: Well, I have an empty 10g QT tank, and me being the way I am, I couldn't let poor fish get flushed. So I contact the person, and go to pick up the fish after class/work. Turns out it's a black moor and a calico ryukin (I think) in a 2.5g tank with no filtration, only an airstone. :swear:

So here I am with these two fancy goldfish and I have no clue about anything goldfish. I mean, obviously I know how to take care of cichlids and tropicals but I'm pretty lost with these guys. Right now I've got them in my 10g QT (I know it's way too small long term but the plan is to rehome them asap) with a Whisper 40i for filtration (seeded media of course) and no heater. I also do not have any decor in there as I do not know if they'd be likely to tear their fins on driftwood.

My questions:
1. Do I need to add a heater? I've got a spare heater for that tank if it's needed. My apartment stays around 70-72.

2. Do they need special food? I've got Wardley's goldfish flakes from another craigslist rescue mission but I hate Wardleys. I have NLS, Dainichi, and Omega One cichlid foods.

3. Can they live in a pond? I have a friend with a goldfish pond who would be willing to take them. I'm not sure if fancies can live in a pond though and I want them to go to a good living situation.

4. Is there anything else I need to know to take care of these fish properly? I read the sticky on goldfish care already, it was a nice write up.

Thanks in advance for any help! (if anyone in the San Antonio area wants them and can properly house them they're all yours!)
 
1. For fancy goldfish, an ideal temperature range is 72-78 degrees Fahrenheit. Get a heater if your room temperature keeps falling below 70 degrees. More critical if it falls lower than 65 degrees.

2. What you simply need to avoid are flakes, floating pellets and pellets that contain too much starch. I feed my goldfish boiled egg whites, sinking pellets by Hikari, Mazuri gel foods, occasionally bloodworms and homemade gel foods with veggies, sardines/mackerel/tuna.

3. How cold does the pond get? How deep is it? What variety are these goldfish anyway?

Well done for saving the fish.:)
 
Thanks Lupin! I'll throw a heater in there and my cichlid pellets are sinking (NLS and Dainichi) so they can get those along with bloodworms on frozen food day. I assume glass worms, brine shrimp, and mysis are all good as well?

As far as the pond, it's south Texas so it's not going to get cold like ponds in the north. I have no idea what other kinds of goldfish are in there, I'll ask. Fancies only go with fancies?

Here's a couple pics of the little guys. They're tiny even though the person had them for 6 months, stunted. :( The calico is about the size of a ping pong ball, the moor is much smaller.

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NLS: whole antarctic krill meal, whole herring meal, wheat flour, whole squid meal, algae meal, soy bean isolate, beta carotene, spirulina, garlic, veggie and fruit extract, and a bunch of vitamins/minerals

Guaranteed analysis:
Protein 34%, fat 5%, fiber 5%, moisture 10%, ash 9%, vit A 8000iu/kg, vit D 2500iu/kg, and vit E 200iu/kg

Dainichi: whole fish meal, wheat germ, wheat flour, shrimp, spirulina, krill meal, soybean meal, brewer's yeast, montmorillonite clay (coats the pellets), powdered milk, garlic, a bunch of vitamins/minerals/supplements.

Guaranteed analysis:
Protein 44%, fat 6%, fiber 2%, moisture 9%, ash 10%, calcium 2%, phosphorus 1%

I've got the two mixed as that is what I feed my (non-mbuna) african cichlids as well as my american cichlids.
 
Can you not get ones designed for goldfish? These ones aren't appropriately formulated especially with too much starch and Dainichi having less fiber than necessary (even though veggies can compensate for this flaw). Not a fan of NLS myself but Hikari Lionhead or Saki Hikari will work. There's also one for Omega One that you can try. Also Pro Gold which you can order in Goldfish Connection online.

Start encouraging them to eat gel foods. I personally handfeed my goldfish with gel foods. This will make it easier when you have to feed them medicated foods later on in case they get sick otherwise you will have trouble trying to nurse them.
 
nice save, poor guys, they are some lucky fish!

i use saki hikari for my fancies, and its perfect for the smaller ones as the pellets are smaller. its worth paying out to give them a decent diet.
 
I can pick up some goldfish food for them (either Hikari or Omega One), though I'm hoping to find them new appropriate homes in a week or two as I'm not set up to keep them long term. Hopefully I'll not have to medicate them in that time, they looked good this morning so I think they adjusted to their new living quarters.

Lupin, why do you not like NLS? I'm just curious because I've always thought of it as superior to Omega One.
 
The last time I read the ingredients, it has more starchy ingredients than I expected unless a few things have already changed based on how they formulated it.
 
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